Colorectal cancer

Read the full article at http://www.parkwaycancercentre.com/healthnews/article/64

Prevention is always better than cure. Don't you think so?

In the news article, it said that people living in big cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan are more prone to colorectal cancer. No body knows for sure why. But part of it is genetics.

Colorectal cancer is the top killer for men, and is the most common cancer in Singapore. In the states, it is the third most common cancer. The risk of getting colorectal cancer in our lifetime is about 5%. The good news is that the death rate have been dropping. It is because more people are aware of this disease and they more often do screening, so that the polyps that are found in the colon can be removed before it develop into cancers. Other treatments and medicines have also improved over the years and it is now more effective in treating the disease.

Never forget to do your part in being healthy. Eat right, enough exercise, rest well and do check up every now and then as advised by your doctor. Like I said, prevention is better than cure.

Cheers! Have a great day.

More people here getting cancer

http://web.singnet.com.sg/~straj/articles/More%20people%20here%20getting%20cancer.html

This article is actually written in 2008, but looking at the trend and according to ministry of health statistics, the number is increasing year after year. So in 2011 is actually even worse. Some people have not realise this and some people choose to ignore this facts.

Once I was in a conference with more than 100 people and the speaker on the stage asked us "Do you know anyone, whether its family, relatives, friends or colleagues, that have suffered cancer before? If you do, please stand up". Guess what? Everyone of us stood up. Which means the risk of cancer is very real. Everyone of us in the room knew someone who got cancer! Yes I know it happens to other people, but looking at the probability, do not be surprised if something happens to us in the future.

No one knows who is going to get cancer, it can be anybody. There is only 1 thing that you can be sure, the cost of treatment for cancer is very expensive. That is why, now there is a critical illness coverage, where they will give a lump sum payout if you are diagnosed with one of the critical illness.

If you read my previous article about cancer, you know that many people are foregoing treatment because they don't have money left. I will not want to be in that position. Do you? It is always good to have more financial buffer to protect ourself. Because if you got critically ill, you may not work anymore, but you need even more money for your daily and medical expenses. This is where a critical illness payout can be useful.

Cheers! Have a great day.

More young people hit by chronic illness

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_715108.html

As you can see, as time goes by, people who are getting sick are getting younger. This is a very serious problem. I certainly don't know for sure why it is happening, but I'm guessing that it is from our current life style. Such as drinking too much, sleep too little, never exercising, eating too much of the wrong kind of food, smoking, etc.

The research shows that 2 out of 5 people aged 20 years and above are already suffering from chronic ailment, such as diabetes dan high cholesterol level. That means there is a very high chance for you to be diagnosed with such conditions.

Despite of that, people are still not changing their life style. On top of that, many are still uninsured. I know that most people like to save money. But do you know that 1 illness can wipe out your entire saving? That is why saving money is good, but protecting your money is even more important. Why do you even want to save but risk to lose all of it?

Now you know that the risk of getting chronic illness is high, please insure your self and your family. Protect your loved ones and your hard earned savings.

Maybe you don't know, but if you have even 1 chronic illness, it is very difficult to insure your self. I know many of my prospects who are only in their 20s but they are practically uninsurable because they have pre existing conditions. If you are still young and healthy, please don't take it for granted.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Education cost

Plan early!

That is what I want all parents do when they have children. I believe you love your kids so much, that you will want to provide the best in bringing them up. Start planning when they are just born is essential, especially if you want them to have a good education. The cost of higher education in the future is not cheap, really! I am sure you want to give your kids the best education they can get right? So start as young as possible, as it gives you more time to save for them. The longer the period till they enter university, the smaller amount you need to save every year.

How much do you think is the cost of education in the future? Let's take a look.
All figures based on 4 years university degree.

1. Singapore.
Cost at year 2010 = $33,803.
Inflation at 3.5%.
Cost at year 2020 = $47,682.
Cost at year 2030 = $67,261.

2. United States.
Cost at year 2010 = $121,017.
Inflation at 4.8%.
Cost at year 2020 = $193,401.
Cost at year 2030 = $309,080.

3. United Kingdom.
Cost at year 2010 = $95,550.
Inflation at 5.2%.
Cost at year 2020 = $158,361.
Cost at year 2030 = $263,357.

4. Australia.
Cost at year 2010 = $61,710.
Inflation at 5.9%.
Cost at year 2020 = $109,475.
Cost at year 2030 = $194,211.

Now you know, what do you think about the cost? It is not that cheap right?
That is why you have to plan early for your child. Start thinking, where do you want your kids to study. Because the above figure is only the university cost, that is not including living cost! So if you are thinking of sending your kids overseas, you got to save even more.

Simple ways to start saving for your kids:
1. Make a new account in your bank and set aside some money every month to be put there and you can't touch it. Let it earn interest from the bank. This the safest way to plan. But overall you will still lose the value of your money, because the bank interest rate is far less than the inflation rate

2. Do a regular investment saving plan, where you can invest every month to enjoy dollar cost averaging (The point of this is to lower the total average cost per share of the investment, giving the investor a lower overall cost for the shares purchased over time). It is more risky than putting your money in the bank, but over the long run, it has potential of better return.

3. Start an endowment plan. It is almost the same like putting your money in fixed deposit in a bank. But endowment plan from insurance company give you at least 2 advantages. First,they will give bonus every year until the end of the endowment period (which may be more than the bank interest) and second, if something happens to you, the payor, the premium will continue to be paid by the insurance company. So that your child education fund is secured, no matter what. The downside of endowment is that you can't take the money until the policy matured. If you do take, there will be penalty.

It does not matter how you plan, just do it. Even combinations of all 3 above can work. Plan early!

Cheers! Have a great day.

Source:
1.Tuition Fees based on:
Estimated average cost of a 4-year (non-clinical course) university degree as of August 2010 • British Council website (www.britishcouncil.org) • US
College Board website (www.trends-collegeboard.com) • Study in Australia website (www.studyinaustralia.gov.au) • National University of Singapore
website (www.nus.edu.sg) • National Technological University website (www.ntu.edu.sg) • Singapore Management University website (www.smu.edu.sg)

2.Inflation Rate based on:
UK Office of National Statistics July 2010% change in Consumer Price Index for Education from July 2009 • US Bureau of Labour Statistics July 2010%
change in Consumer Price Index for Tuition, Other School Fees & Childcare from July 2009 • Australian Bureau of Statistics June Quarter 2010%
change in Consumer Price Index for Tertiary Education from June Quarter 2009 • Singapore Department of Statistics July 2010% change in Consumer
Price Index for Tuition & Other Fees from July 2009 • The respective inflation rates are used to calculate the projected tuition fees in Year 2015, 2020,
2025, 2030, 2035 and 2040.

Deposits and insurance in Singapore

In Singapore, people enjoy a good financial system. Supported by strict law and regulations under the watchful eyes of the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore).

People from all over the world put their money in Singapore because we believe it is safe. We trust the financial institutions here, from banks, insurance companies, investment banks and etc.

But how safe are you? How much of your money is protected under the law here?

MAS aim is to supervise and ensure stability of the financial system. However, MAS does not guarantee the soundness of individual financial institutions. Therefore, you must know what will happen to your money in case of failure of a financial institution.

There are 2 schemes which will protect your money.

1. Deposit insurance scheme.

In the event a Deposit Insurance Scheme member bank or finance company fails, all of your eligible accounts with that member are aggregated and insured up to S$50,000. Trust and client accounts held by non-bank depositors are insured up to $50,000 per account.
Moneys held in bank deposits under the CPF Investment Scheme and CPF Minimum Sum Scheme are aggregated and separately insured up to S$50,000.

2. Policy owner's protection scheme.

This scheme protects existing and future policyowners should a life insurer, which is a Member of the PPF Scheme, fail. Policyowners receive 100% protection for the guaranteed benefits of their life insurance policies, subject to maximum caps where applicable. (The PPF Scheme also provides 100% coverage for general insurance policies that are covered under the Scheme; no caps are applicable.)

These 2 schemes are administered by SDIC(Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation).
SDIC is a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act. The board of directors is accountable to the Minister in charge of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Please visit https://www.sdic.org.sg/index.php for more info and details.

In simple terms, your money in the bank is protected only up to $50,000 but your benefit in insurance policy is 100% of the guaranteed sum assured and surrender values. Subject to terms and conditions. So never take anything for granted, that is your hard earned money. Always be cautious. You never know what's going to happen, such as the bankruptcy of Lehman brothers.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Not so fun facts

Some interesting facts that you may never heard before:

1. 1 in 4 (currently age 20) will not live to age 65.

2. 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women will contract one of the critical illnesses before age 65.

3. In 95% of countries, the medical costs grew faster than general inflation.

4. In the last 5 years, medical cost grew more than 10% per year in Asia.

5. You are 7 times more likely to suffer from critical illness before reaching 65 than you are to die.

6. Heart diseases, cancer and accidents are 3 of the top 10 conditions for medical cost.

7. 1 in 9 women will develop breast cancer.

8. 1 in 2 men at risk of cancer by 2022.

9. In past 10 years, costs for higher education grew by 200% or 160% above inflation.

10. Only less than 3 in 10 would likely enjoy a gracious retirement.

11. 62% of personal bankrupties were caused by health problems and its associated cost.

12. Almost 30% of death is caused by cancer and almost 20% of death is caused by heart disease.

Source: Towers Watson, office of national statistics, swiss reinsurance, trends in college spending, harvard research, ministry of health.

Cheers! Have a great day.

You must have insurance if...

Like I said before, not everybody need insurance but everybody can benefit from insurance. It does not matter you are in the low, middle or high income category, you can take advantage of insurance to complement whatever financial portfolio you have in place.

But insurance is definitely a must if you are in the following situations:

1. When you know that tragedies such as sickness, disability, critical illness, accident or premature death happens, you or your family will be in financial ruin.

2. When you have debts, such as home loan, car loan, credit card debt, education loan, personal loan, etc. These debts must be paid regardless of your situation. Imagine if you can't work due to disability or critical illness, who is going to pay these debts? Are you going to burden your loved ones?

3. When you and your dependants, such as your parents, spouse and children depends on your earning ability. If something happens to you, what will happen to them?

So please, if you are in the above situations, make sure you have adequate coverage. If not, you are gambling your and your loved ones well-being. Do not risk it.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Mistakes that people make when buying insurance

I am so glad if you have made the decisions to buy insurance, to protect yourself and your loved ones. I can guarantee that you will never regret it if you buy the right insurance.

Now, make sure you don't make the following mistakes when buying insurance:

1. Not enough coverage.
You have to make sure that your coverage is enough to provide what you intended. Consider your current and future expenses such as household, education, children, leisure, home loan, car loan, credit card, investment, health coverage and etc. Be sure that the insurance payout is enough to cover all these expenses for many years to come.

2. Period of coverage is too short.
For example: if you have a 1 year old son and you want to cover yourself until he finish university and start working, go and get at least a 25 years term plan. If you buy a 5 years or 10 years term, then you will have to renew it and during renewal, your premiums will go up. In the end, your total cost will be higher. Of course if you have the budget, you may consider a whole life plan which will cover you throughout your life.

3. Not reviewing your insurance every now and then.
People changed, their income changed, their situation changed, their life changed. So it is good to review your insurance policy every 1 or 2 years, because you may need more coverage or you may need less coverage. You will also be updated with the insurance industry progress which may have new products that can complement your existing policies and give you even more comprehensive coverage.

4. Procrastinated buying insurance.
Some people have made the decisions to plan, but in the end it never go through. They will think of so many things that is unimportant and keep delaying of buying insurance. If you know you need it, the longer you do nothing, the more vulnerable you are. As time passed by, you grow older, the premium increase, the health risk increase leading to no coverage at all.

5. Relying on employer coverage.
I always said this to my clients, "Never rely on your group company coverage, it is never designed to suit your individual needs, just consider it a bonus coverage". Please have a personal plan which covers you all the time because a company coverage will be terminated when you leave the company, leaving you with no coverage. I believe you will never work for your employer until age 100 right? You will retire someday, and if you wait to buy the insurance when you retire, you are making a very big risk because your health may not be good anymore.

6. Only buy insurance for the breadwinner.
Many people have the perceptions that only the breadwinner of the family need to be insured, because he is the one who is earning the income. But do you know the person who is looking after the home and the family has as much financial value? For example, besides giving spiritual support, a housewife provides her family with the services of child care worker, tutor, cook, dishwasher, chauffeur, laundry worker, maid and more. In the absence of such person, do you know how much you need to take care your family?

Now that you know some tips on buying insurance, do what is right.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Why should you buy insurance now?

Many people are faced with financial catastrophe because they simply plan too late.

There is a saying, "People don't plan to fail, but they fail to plan". It's so true.

You have to plan now! If you are not cash rich with no liability, you better have insurance in your financial portfolio. You also have to make sure you buy the right insurance with the right coverage.

So why do you have to plan now?

1. It is because you never know what is going to happen in the next moment. You can predict, you can hope for the best, but you simply don't know what is going to happen next. Try going to hospitals, ask the patients if they expect to get sick or accident or dying. Believe me, no one expect themselves to be in the hospitals. But it just happened.

2. It is because tomorrow you get older. Tomorrow you don't know what is going to happen to your health. Once you are older, the insurance will become more expensive. Once your health deteriorate, you may have to pay more premium or there may be exclusions in the coverage or the insurance company may not even want to give you the coverage.

So now is always the best time to plan. Please don't wait until it's too late.

Don't leave things to chances. Plan to the best that you can, for your sake and your loved ones sake. I believe you want to save, protect and grow your money right?

Just remember this, insurance is like a lifeboat. You must have it before you need it! You must have the life boat in place before the ship set sail. Because once you sail and something happen to the ship in the middle of the ocean, how are you going to get a life boat? It may be too late.

I am not going to sail without a lifeboat. How about you?

Cheers! Have a great day.

Even rich people have insurance

Many people said to me, "rich people don't need insurance, since they have so much cash already in the bank. Even if something bad happened, they can pay whatever medical bills and even if they can't work anymore, they can continue to live without worrying about money". I can say yes, that is partly true. Rich people don't need insurance, but I can tell you that insurance can give so much benefit to them.

First, they are rich because they know how to properly plan and budget their money and business. They know how to protect and grow their money. Who said that rich people do not want their medical bills to be paid by the insurance company, who said that rich people do not want huge insurance pay out if they are disabled or critically ill, who said that rich people do not want to leave a huge legacy to their loved ones if they passed away? The answer is most of them want.

Second, it is simply about leveraging their money. Rich people know how to use their money to the fullest potential. Insurance is one way they diversify their financial portfolio. Insurance can do what his stocks, bonds, mutual funds, unit trust, precious metals and businesses cannot do. With so little premium, they can create a huge estate.

Third, in some country there are inheritance/estate tax. So when rich people passed away, the tax that need to be paid to the government from his final estate can be very huge. Only the balance of the estate will be given to the family. Life insurance will help to pay this cost and the family can get the full amount of the inheritance.

Let's have a look at this news article from Singapore Straits Times. A Singaporean has more than $20 million insurance coverage.


He said that he do not want his family to be saddled with any debt whatsoever if something happens to him. In a different page he also said that he will want his family to maintain their current lifestyle even when he is no longer around. This shows that he has planned well for him self and his family.

If rich people have insurance, don't you think people who earn less and have less savings in the bank should have too? If you want to be rich, follow what the rich do, as long as you don't break the law.

Just 1 more example of rich people who have insurance.


Yup, that's Mariah with $1 billion insurance. Taken from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/1billion-legs--celebrity-insurance-policies-1958121.html?action=Gallery

Cheers! Have a great day.

How do you allocate your income?

Every one of us is a consumer. We literally spend money every day, guaranteed! be it eating and drinking, enjoying the cable tv and internet at home, handphone, driving your car or taking public transport, enjoying your lovely home, kid's education, etc. All these are expenses that have to be paid with your income. So you have to make sure that your income is more than your expenses. How many of you really do budgeting every month?

Some people have asked me, what is the best way to allocate your income?

To me, there is no simple way to allocate your income to the different expense categories. Because different people have different priorities and some people are just savers type and some people are spenders type.

As your income grows, a fixed percentage allocation may not make sense anymore for some category. For example, if I allocate 20% for food expenses, when my monthly income is $5,000, I will spend $1,000 on food. But if my monthly income is $50,000, that means I will spend $10,000 on food. Don't you think it is unnecessary? You will not eat that much normally, unless you go to a high class restaurant every day.

So how do I plan for myself? Here are the 2 categories and percentage of allocation that I am concern with, they are:

1. Giving (charity, help others in need, church, etc) = 10%.
2. Cash saving, insurance and long term investment = 25%.

The other 65% allocation will goes to the rest, which might be housing, food, services, leisure, transportation, allowances, credit card, etc. If there is money left, that's good, just put more on the savings. These are just my allocations preference. Yours can be different, it is okay.

If you are having some financial difficulty, it just means you might have overstretched your budget somewhere that might be not necessary. Look again.

If you want to achieve financial freedom and live comfortably now and in the future, just try re-arrange some of your priorities. Look at your income, expenses and the allocations. Does it match?

It does not matter what income you have now, you must make sure that you protect your money first and grow your money to achieve financial freedom.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Winston Churchill

Many of you may know him. He was one of the most influential leaders in history. He was regarded as a great wartime leaders and he served as British prime minister twice. To date, he was the only British prime minister to have received the nobel prize.

He had many famous quotes, such as:

- We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

- A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

- To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

- The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.

But there is 1 more quote that he said but you may never heard before, it was

"If I had my way I would write the word ‘Insure‘ upon the door of every cottage and upon the blotting book of every public man, because I am convinced for sacrifices which are inconceivably small, families and estates can be protected against catastrophes which would otherwise smash them up forever. It is our duty to arrest the ghastly waste, not merely of human happiness, but of national health and strength, which follows when, through the death of a breadwinner, the frail boat in which the family are embarked, founders, and women and children of estates are left to struggle in the dark waters of a friendless world".

Since his time, he already knew how important insurance is. He would want to insure everyone if he could do it. But no, he could not do it alone. You have to take charge and plan for yourself, plan for your family.

The sad truth is since his time until today, not much has changed. I have seen people lost their home, their car, their saving and everything, because tragedy struck. I have seen people begging for help and money. It's all because they were never adequately covered.

Of course the world will still move on. People will move on. People will survive, because survival is basic instinct of creature. But why do you want yourself and your loved ones to survive with so much struggle, so much debt and so much financial problem?

People always think that bad thing will never happen to them, it will only happen to other people. But the sad truth is that it does happen and not always to 'someone else'. This truth is incontrovertible.

Cheers! Have a great day.